Also known as: life property salvage · life-and-property salvage · salvage
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A category of maritime salvage in which salvors rescue both human lives and property from peril at sea.
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Lila Lin's tug encountered a sinking freighter whose crew had abandoned ship. She towed the vessel to port while also pulling the crew aboard lifeboats. The court awarded her a salvage fee that reflected both the property recovered and the lives preserved during the operation.
Leah Lamb's salvage team boarded a drifting yacht whose owner had fallen overboard. While one crew member rescued the owner, the others secured and towed the yacht to safety. The award recognized the single operation that preserved both the person and the vessel.
Life-property salvage occurs when the same salvors rescue both lives and property in a single operation. Pure life salvage involves saving lives without any accompanying property recovery.
Supporting sources
…American courts under Bisso v. Inland Waterways Corp. , 349 U. S. 85 (1955), and Dixilyn Drilling Corp. v. Crescent Towing & Salvage Co. , 372 U. S. 697 (1963). Therefore, “[t]he district court was entitled to consider that remanding Zapata to a foreign forum, with no practical contact with the controversy, could raise a…